


Ninja-san goes home

by Corinne K (Corinne_K)



Series: Borrowed Scenery [4]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Bittersweet, Cute Kids, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 01:44:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7200545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corinne_K/pseuds/Corinne%20K
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sneaky ninja disturbs the Soutaichou's much deserved rest. Will stealth beat experience? Or the other way around? The winner gets to bring home a very special prize.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ninja-san goes home

**Author's Note:**

> This is still within the universe of my first fic (Borrowed Scenery), but it can be read as a one-shot - I think so, at least... well, give it a try, won't hurt ;) but do beware of spoilers from the Quincy War manga arc.

First Thursdays of the month were Rukongai Council days. The idea had come up after the war, in one of the many gatherings of soul-searching shinigami.

The representatives of the civic associations would come up to Sereitei to present proposals, petitions and protests, discuss ongoing projects and see the sights.

Shunsui sat through it stoically. He would rather be out in the gardens, enjoying the clear blue sky, but this had also been his doing: fixing the world of the dead in order to fix the world of the living. Well... they were trying.

Meetings wrapped up by 5 pm, sun still high, but all the Captain Commander  could think of was a nice long nap. He was drained.

‘That’s what you get for associating with idealists’. The though brought a small smile of longing to his lips.

He trailed along the streets absentmindedly. His feet could get him to his destination even blindfolded. Remembering the last time they had walked that road together, hand in hand, made his heart tighten. Six years had gone by since Jūshirō left. He was happy with how things had turned out - he truly was. He simply missed how they were before.

The guards at the 13th greeted him formally, none too surprised to see him. The garden around the koi pond had become a usual hiding spot for naps and thinking. He did not bother to shunpo over the walls anymore, now he just walked through the gate.

With time, the Gotei 13 had come to accept the idiosyncrasies of their Soutaichou. Peace and change are not an easy marriage, so a lazy and eccentric leader was a small price to pay for that, as most had acknowledged.

The grounds were kept impeccably tidy by the shinigami, although they rarely used them. They seemed to prefer a larger patio on the other side of the compound, and the new Kuchiki Taichou was always too busy to engage in tea drinking, koi feeding or contemplation.

Shunsui dragged himself to his usual spot under the trees, overlooking the small pavilion. So silent… He lowered himself to the grass-padded floor, shaded his eye with the tip of the hat and let his body go dormant against the earth.

The sky had turned just a shade darker when he was pulled from his slumber. He was slightly startled but didn’t know why. Everything was quiet, except for a fading ripple on the water. Then, one more pebble came hopping through the surface, all the way across.

He grinned and scanned the area for the pebble throwe. His eye finally landed on the stilts that supported the pavilion. A broom of dark brown hair and an upside-down cheeky face hung from one of the beams.

“Oh my, the Sereitei is being infiltrated by ninjas!”

No reply met his prompt. He charged on.

“I bet Captain Soi Fon will enjoy giving them chase. Long time that bee sting thing of hers doesn’t come out of the box…”

Yes, he had the little intruder’s attention now. 

“Oye, Ninja-san… won’t you come out of hiding? I can help you escape the evil bee…”

“Am I in trouble?”

The kid had swiftly released his legs from the wooden beam, leapt backwords, landed on his feet, skipped through the surface of the water with light steps and reached Shunsui in an instant.

“Who taught you that?”

“Aunt Yor…” he clamped his hand over his mouth. “No one.”

“Yare, yare… I should have known a ninja never gives away his secrets.”

He pouted at being mocked. The hair was smooth and wavy, the skin tone a light copper, obviously from the mother’s side. Eyebrows, nose and lips were photocopies of his dad’s. The deep green eyes were somewhere in between. He had the odd feeling that those same words could have easily described a son of his own. He shuddered guiltily and dismissed the thought.

“Do you remember me, Ninja-san?”

“Hmmm…”

The boy scrunched his eyebrows trying to search his memory. It was understandable he could not remember Shunsui. It had been a very long time since his last visit. 

Before the little ninja was born Jūshirō and Alma had welcomed him into their life. Breaking the ice with the woman had been tricky at first. He came to like her, despite all things. In many things, she reminded him of himself. In time, their relationship had become something akin to fraternal love.

It was, thus, natural that he was also there when Ryuhei came into the world. A tiny, wrinkled, bloody mess that made them all rejoice and love each other more. In a way, he was also his to protect, a thought that warned his heart.

The house in Kyoto bustled with new life and became a meeting point for what she had called "shinigami expats".

However,  during the child’s first year of life, Shunsui began to distance himself. Things were getting intense in Sereitei, he could not afford many escapades, but, more fundamentally, he believed that the living should not be bothered with the problems of the dead. That was his job.

The voice of the little ninja awoke him from his memories. He seemed to have come to some sort of epiphany, for his eyes were gleaming with pride.

“I know your filling.”

“My feelings?”

“No, your filling… like a choux-crème. There’s the shell and there’s the filling, that’s what makes each one different and…” he added shyly, “tasty.”

“Choux-crème… filling. I think you are a sweet tooth just like your father.”

“You know my father?”

“Of course, everyone knows your father… But never mind that. Want to play a game?”

The kid measured him.

“Why do you have only one eye?”

“Oh, a bad man took the other one…”

He looked scared, or perhaps he pitied him, because his expression mimicked his father’s worry face in a very sweet way. Damned genes.

“Don’t worry! I can beat you easy with only one! So, what do you say?”

“What game?”

“I know quite a few… let’s see… how do you like to jump?”

“I like it.”

“Good. Wait here.”

He giggled like an idiot all the way to the training room, skipping at times, all lethargy long forgotten. Luckily the 13th had always been an inclusive division, so he manage to find shinai of several sizes. He took two and shumpoed away.

“Ok, let’s play this game called Takaoni” he announced as he returned to where Ryuhei had been further practicing his pebble throwing.

“You take a shinai, I take the other one. Hmm… we can use these stones here by the lake. Now whoever is standing on the higher stone when we hear the word Takaoni wins… and gets to whack the other in the head.”

The kid laughed loudly with gusto. Jūshirō would never approve of this. He could already hear the scolding in his head, but he couldn’t help himself.

“And who calls it?”

“We take turns. Each one can call it 3 times in a row. If you lose your own call you get minus points and extra whacks.”

“Hey, did you just make that up?”

“Ninja-san, the rules are the same for the two of us. Now, shall we?”

The game turned out to be great fun but utterly exhausting. The kid was agile like a gazelle, which was not at all surprising, with the dream team of teachers he had. Besides his father, he had mentioned Yoruichi, and Shunsui knew Ichigo would drop by quite often too. They ended up exchanging blows to the head in equal measures, and not by condescendence of the Soutaichou.

“My turn!” the child announced once again, as if he knew no fatigue at all.

“Easy there! Or you want to bring your uncle to the hospital?”

“Just one more time! Please… please…”

How could he say no?

“Alright, alright. But it’s the last one.”

After the last round, Ryuhei landed his blows upon an already siting and slouching Shunsui. He held the shinai correctly with both hands, flat over the old man’s head. They were both smiling when they looked at each other. The boy’s green eyes were fixed on Shunsui’s grey one. He was pensive for a bit, then he lowered the bamboo sword slowly, almost caressing the man’s head, and laid it respectfully on the floor.

“Uncle Shun…”

“Come here kid.”

He launched his arms around the small frame and draped him over his shoulder, knees touching the floor. The boy joined the embrace by throwing his arms around the man’s neck. “Damn…” he cursed silently as his eye turned misty.

“Time to go home?” he asked, breaking the embrace. Ryuhei nodded. “How did you get here anyway?”

The shy naughty boy face that resulted from the question was almost too much for Shunsui’s heart to take.

“I was playing tag with aunt Rukia.”

Shunsui laughed heartily at that.

“Did your aunt Rukia know you were playing tag with her?”

He made a mental note to tell Jū that he had to watch the kid. It would be dangerous if he kept sneaking into the senkaimon without supervision. Perhaps it was time to show him around. It still puzzled him how he had chosen to spend his day of trespassing in his father’s garden.

“Here feels like home too.” The boy said casually.

“I see. But I need to get you back to your mom and dad.”

He pouted but nodded his head.

“Piggy back?”

He nodded enthusiastically and climbed onto Shunsui’s back, locking his arms over his chest. By the time the Captain Commander had opened the senkaimon and called a hell butterfly, a small cheek was squashed against the side of his neck and the just now so agile body was hanging heavily.

“Yare, yare.” A stubborn tear rolled from the corner of his eye, but Shunsui didn’t bother to wipe it. After all, his hands were busy holding the precious little fella, as they moved swiftly through the dark.


End file.
